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Powerpuff Girls Z
''Powerpuff Girls Z'', known in Japan as Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z (出ましたっ!パワパフガールズ Z Demashita! Pawapafu Gāruzu Zetto?, roughly They're Here! Powerpuff Girls Z) or PPGZ for short, is a magical girl anime series based on the American animated television series ''The Powerpuff Girls''. The anime is co-produced by Cartoon Network Japan and Aniplex and was animated by Toei Animation, featuring character design by Miho Shimogasa (of Sailor Moon fame). The 52-episode series aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007. Since August 1, 2006, it has also aired on AT-X. Since April 1, 2007, the program airs on Cartoon Network in Japan. An English-dubbed version produced by Ocean Group aired by Cartoon Network Philippines on their Boomerang channel in 2008, though has not yet been released in North America, except for Mexico (and Latin America as well) where it airs on Cartoon Network. A manga of the same name ran in Shueisha's Ribon magazine between July 2006 and June 2007. Plot The plot of the anime differs much from the original series. Professor Utonium was experimenting while his son Ken Kitazawa/Utonium created Chemical Z (a variant of his father's Chemical X) when a local restaurant specialty fell into the Chemical X. Ken uses the chemical to destroy an ice glacier and avoid an ecological disaster. The impact causes white and black Z-Rays to fly across the skies of New Townsville. The white lights hit Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup transforming them into the Powerpuff Girls. Those hit with the black light became the series' villains. After defeating Mojo Jojo, Mr. Mayor assigned them to be the heroines of the city. They are called to action using the cry of Ken Kitazawa's robot pet puppy, Poochi. The pilot of Powerpuff Girls Z is missing. For more information, click here. Production Apparently, the most widely accepted reason on why this series was produced was because Japanese networks wanted to air the original series, but they couldn't because it wasn't made in Japan, so to circumvent this, they produced their own edition. Differences From Original Version *The anime gives the Professor a son named Ken Kitazawa, a robot pet dog named Poochi and an unnamed wife. The anime version of Professor Utonium acts as a father figure to the Powerpuff Girls, but is not their guardian. *In the anime, the Powerpuff Girls are ordinary eighth graders who gain the ability to transform into superheroes when necessary, as opposed to genetically engineered kindergartners who were born with superpowers. They come from separate families and are not related to each other. Blossom has a younger sister, while Buttercup has two brothers. Unlike their original counterparts, the anime versions of the Powerpuff Girls use actual weapons. *In the anime, Mojo Jojo is more of a nuisance to the Girls than a real threat, has nothing to do with their origins and does not reside on top of a volcano, instead residing in a highly run-down shack. *Instead of Townsville, the Girls and the Professor live in Tokyo, a real-life Japanese city. In the English dub, it is called New Townsville. *Buttercup is the only one of the three now who can use eye lasers. *After the 50th episode, the Gangreen Gang are given new names in the English dub; **Ace is renamed Bobby Green. **Snake is a girl renamed Ivy. **Lil' Arturo is renamed Weevil. **Big Billy is renamed Big Boy. **Grubber is renamed Lunk. *Ms. Bellum is blonde and wears a white dress in the anime. *The anime version of the Mayor is more mature than his original counterpart, and has a brother who is the school principal. *In the anime, Ms. Keane is not aware of the fact that the Girls are superheroes. *In the anime, there are black Z rays that have been scattered all over the city and are causing trouble for the Girls by creating the familiar villains that they must face regularly. *The Amoeba Boys have a female member. *Princess Morbucks is more sympathetic in the anime, and gradually befriends the Powerpuff Girls. Instead of a constant villain who relies on expensive technology to fight, the anime Princess is an ordinary person who, after being hit by Z rays, gains the ability to turn into a supervillain upon hearing the screams of her pet cat. Princess has a desire for attention that stems from being overshadowed by her sister, but she does not specifically want membership in the eponymous superhero team. *None of the voice actors in the Japanese dub of the original series reprise their roles. Characters (Note: Most characters in the anime are based on their American counterparts. Characters mentioned in this section are those that are either significantly different or not in the American version at all. For those present in both versions, there is also a brief PPGZ section on their main pages.) The Powerpuff Girls Z *'Momoko Akatsutsumi' (赤堤 ももこ, Akatsutsumi Momoko/[[Blossom|'Hyper-Blossom']] (ハイパー・ブロッサム, Haipā Burossamu) is Blossom's counterpart. She was the first to be hit with the white light and the leader of the trio. Her main weapon is a Yo-Yo. She is very ditzy unlike her American counterpart and is obsessed with boys and sweets. She is known as a "hero maniac" and is obsessed with helping others. Despite her ditzy nature, she can be quite clever and can come up with plans when the time comes. The reason why she is called Hyper is due to her yo-yo weapon since yo-yos are hyper. *'Miyako Gotokuji' (豪徳寺 みやこ, Gōtokuji Miyako)/[[Bubbles|'Rolling Bubbles']] (ローリング・バブルス, Rōringu Baburusu) is Bubbles' counterpart. Her weapon is a giant bubble wand. She is too quite ditzy and often seems to not completely understand her powers. She is known for being the sweetheart of the school who is always receiving love-notes from boys. She is more mature and calm than the other girls, but like her American counterpart, can be angered when provoked. She is extremely polite and loves shopping. She still has her stuffed Octi (her American counterpart has the same stuffed doll with the same name). She is very innocent, kind, gentle, and has a deep love for animals. She can also communicate with animals just like her original counterpart. The reason why she is called Rolling is due to her bubble wand weapon since bubble wands have bubbles and bubbles are round and rolling. *'Kaoru Matsubara' (松原 かおる, Matsubara Kaoru)/[[Buttercup|'Powered Buttercup']] (パワード・バターカップ, Pawādo Batākappu) is Buttercup's counterpart. She is much like her American counterpart in personality. She likes to skateboard and hates wearing skirts (and she even got a cold from wearing her PPGZ uniform.) She was the last to be hit by the white light. She loves sports and is very athletic at school. She initially dislikes her teammates because they are very "girly" and only joins due to the power she has achieved. Unlike Bubbles, she does not use honorifics (which in Japan is very rude.) ﻿She makes the occasional reference to the original series by saying "We save the day BEFORE bedtime!."The reason why she is called Powered is due to her hammer weapon since hammers are strong. Other Protagonists Present in Both Adaptations *Professor Utonium (ユートニウム博士, Yūtoniumu-Hakase) is very similar to his counterpart in the original series. Outside of his family name Kitazawa, his real name is never revealed. He appears to work for the Mayor. He creates various inventions, including Chemical X which was adopted by his son Ken. He is a gentle father to his son and treats the PPGZ like daughters (which is similar to the original series whereas the original Powerpuff Girls are his American counterpart's daughters in the original series). *The Mayor of Tokyo City/New Townsville (or just Mr. Mayor) is not as dumb as his counterpart original version but is still shown to be quite dim-witted. He is a lot more normal looking being of normal height and having no monocle or top hat. He is not very childish like his American counterpart. *Miss Bellum (ミス・ベラム, Misu Beramu) has blonde hair in the anime adaption. Unlike her American counterpart her hair does not cover her face, rather she'll usually hold a tablet computer with red lips on it in front of her face. She still does the majority of the Mayor's work and is the brains of the operation. It is noted several times in the series that she is very attractive, including Fuzzy Lumpkins developing a crush on her. *Ms. Keane (キーン先生, Kīn-Sensei) is very pretty and is loved by her male students, although the female students don't like her as much, especially Princess Morbucks/Himeko Shirogane. Miss Keane, like her original American counterpart, is kind and incredibly patient. Mojo Jojo gets a crush on her and tries very much to win her attention. When the girls' every attempt gets thwarted by Miss Keane not letting them go to the nurse so they don't miss class time, they try telling Miss Keane that they are the PPGZ, but she does not believe them, telling them to go to the nurse because there's something wrong with their heads. PPGZ Exclusive Protagonists *'Ken Utonium'/'Kitazawa' (北沢ケン, Kitazawa Ken) is the Professor's son and he is a young genius. He invented Chemical Z. He is home-schooled by his father and is much more educated than the girls, although he is only 8. He sees the girls as older sisters. The girls once tried to act as his mother, due to him not having a loving female figure in his life. *'Poochi'/'Peach' (ピーチ, Pīchi) is Ken's pet robotic dog. After being hit by the white light, he gained the ability to talk and gained intelligence. His cry prompts the girls' transformation and can regenerate their powers when drained. He can also sniff out those affected by Chemical Z and Him's black particles. However, the scent can be masked by cosmetics (as with Sedusa's makeup). It is possible that Poochi was partially inspired by the Talking Dog from the American version of "Powerpuff Girls." And it is a role of Powerpuff Girls Z's "Hotline." *'Kasey'/[[Kuriko Akatsutsumi|'Kuriko Akatsutsumi']] (赤堤 くりこ, Akatsutsumi Kuriko) is Blossom (Momoko)'s eight-year-old sister, Kasey is just as hyper and addicted to the sentai/hero genre as her older sister if not more. She is very independent and likes to pretend she is a heroine. She admires the Powerpuff Girls Z and wishes to be a heroine just like them (she tried to defeat Mojo Jojo's robot with a broom as an act to be Kasey/Kuriko Cyber Pink). She likes Bubbles (Miyako) and Buttercup (Kaoru), but she does not really like Blossom (Momoko (who is actually her sister)). She is also always looking for new ways to annoy her sister. She appears to be quite interested in Ken, especially when she realizes that he knows her sister. Similarly, Ken seems interested in her because of her resemblance to Blossom (Momoko). She also has a resemblance to Bullet the Squirrel. *[[Mrs. Utonium|'Mrs. Utonium']] is Ken's mother and his father Professor's wife. *[[Kiyoko Gotokuji|'Kiyoko Gotokuji']] is Bubbles (Miyako)'s grandmother. Villains *Mojo Jojo has different origins in the anime. He was not the Professor's lab assistant, rather he was an ordinary zoo monkey hit with the black light ray. He was often made fun of by humans and decided to seek revenge on humanity once hit with the light. He is physically more powerful than the original version of the character, able to fly and lay a dozen punches at one time. This version of Mojo frequently displays an immature attitude and makes the most childish flaws throughout his plans. While the original Mojo was portrayed as one of the most competent and genuinely threatening villains in the series, the anime version is more of a rather inept comic relief and is seen by the Powerpuff Girls as more of an annoying nuisance than a dangerous enemy. The anime Mojo also does not repeat himself redundantly as the original Mojo does. Instead in the Japanese version, ends most of his sentences with "Mojo". He never became a part of the Beat-Alls (Mojo, Fuzzy, Princess, HIM) *Fuzzy Lumpkins is very similar in both personality and appearance to his American counterpart. He is obsessed with his property and claims other things that don't belong to him as his own. He is very strong. Fuzzy has a huge crush on Miss Bellum. He can be nice to those showing him praise (such as those listening to him playing his banjo.) *HIM (カレ, Kare) is the most powerful enemy of the series, and it is safe to say that he is the main antagonist. Him is an evil being saved, nothing more and nothing less than chaos itself. His biggest weakness is the cold. In ancient times, Him was dedicated to bringing about the destruction of a small town, however, was defeated by Goodenough Girls X (Ooedo Chakichaki Girls) who took advantage of Him's weakness (cold) to lock him up and take part of their evil and save the mountains. But when Ken ended up destroying that mountain (below) Z-rays were scattered all around New Townsville, and consequently, overproducing and giving birth to the many villains in the city. A black Z lightning struck Him and woke him. It is also known that he released a strange dust that was responsible for producing some villains. the Powerpuff Girls Z have finally turned HIM into a tiny Doll and his molecules were aged into dust into the outer space by a white light ray. Unlike his American counterpart, Him dresses like a jester instead of an effeminate devil. Also, his voice isn't an echoing falsetto. *Himeko Shirogane is Princess Morbucks's counterpart. She does not necessarily want to be a Powerpuff Girl, but she wishes to show them up due to them stealing her spotlight. Her cat's scream when she is envious can trigger her transformation. Her transformation includes her usual pigtails being ripped off, rubber boots, and her star eyes become somewhat like hypnosis screens. When she is returned to normal, she cannot remember what happened while she was evil. Her desires to be noticed comes from her lack of attention at home. Her parents pay more attention to her older sister, Miko (Duchess in English), who is better than her at everything. *The Gangreen Gang are remotely similar to the ones in the American version, with the exception of Weevil (Lil' Arturo's counterpart) and Ivy (Snake) being girls, and how Ace lost his New York accent entirely. Unlike Lil' Arturo, Weevil does not have a Mexican accent. Also, everyone has different names: Bobby Green (Ace), Ivy (Snake), Weevil (Lil' Arturo), Lunk (Grubber), and Big Boy (Big Billy.) *The Amoeba Boys are slightly different than their American counterparts, as they are smaller in size and don't act like mobsters (in addition to one of the members being a female). *Sedusa was originally a sweet, shy girl named Annie. She has a crush on a boy that frequently visits her shop but felt like she wasn't as pretty as Miss Bellum (whom she thought he liked.) While leaving to give Miss Bellum the lipstick she dropped, the black light hit her, turning her into the alter ego, Sedusa. Sedusa stole items such as make-up, jewelry, and clothes that she thought would make her more attractive. Sedusa can take the form of anyone using cosmetics. She can also use her hair like tentacles like her American counterpart. Annie transforms into Sedusa when anxious and wearing lipstick. Annie has no memory of Sedusa's actions. *The Rowdyruff Boys Z appear to be similar to their American counterparts, as both were created by Mojo to destroy the titular characters. Unlike their American counterparts, they were made by the girls' and Mojo's DNA (as opposed to snips, snails and puppy dog tails) and were not resurrected by HIM. They almost defeated the PPGZ by being extremely gross, tough, menacing, disrespectful and arrogant. Their actions include throwing gross objects (boogers, ear-wax, and smelly socks) at the girls, peeing on the city, mooning the girls and lifting their skirts. They are very rude to Mojo, much to his dismay because he considers them his sons. When they want to suck up to him, then they act like loving sons. Much like their American counterparts, the Rowdyruff Boys Z were defeated with kisses. PPGZ Exclusives *'Miko Shirogane' (Duchess Morebucks) is the older sister of Himeko (Princess). She designed a dress which had all the capabilities of the weapons of Powerpuff Girls Z and plans to outshine them. Her talent and praise amongst her family is often a source of jealousy for Himeko, often being the cause for her transformations. Her uniform was based on Bunny from the original cartoon. *'Cody'/'Takaaki' (タカアキ, Takaaki) is a young boy who has spent most of his life in a hospital with an illness and was Bubbles' first crush, having met when they were kids. When he is hit by the dark light, he transforms into a werewolf-like monster and escapes, though does not attempt to harm others. Eventually, he is founded by Bubbles and returned to his normal form. *'Sapphire' is Himeko's (Princess) pet cat. Her screams can trigger the transformation, mostly because Himeko kept on squeezing her tail. She pretended to take interest in Poochi/Peach to gather information about the Powerpuff Girls Z when they left him alone to take Princess home and to present one of the Professor's inventions (no dogs allowed) to an institute. *[[Mandy|'Mandy']] is Himeko's (Princess) best friend. *[[Brandy|'Brandy']]/'Hanayo Nakameguro' is Himeko's (Princess) best friend. *'Michel Gilbert "Gigi" the Great' *'Dave'/'Dai Matsubara' is Buttercup (Kaoru)'s brother. *'Sam'/'Shou Matsubara' is Buttercup (Kaoru)'s brother. *'Kennai Hiraga' (Professor Pithium) *[[Holle|'Holle']] *'Digitron' Episodes Reception Powerpuff Girls Z received mixed to positive reviews from critics and audiences. It is different from the original series and heavily polarized the audiences (not to mention fans of the original show), as it's either the subject of praise or criticism. On TV.com, it gained a 7.4/10 rating based on 145 votes. On MyAnimeList.net, it gave it a low rating of 6.5/10 from 4,536 users. On the other hand, CartoonCrazy gave it a high rating of 4.3/5 based on 289 reviews. Soundtrack The Powerpuff Girls Z: Original Soundtrack was released on June 27, 2007. The CD contains TV-sized versions of the show's opening and ending themes (although the song, Jig THE Upper, is the version that was featured on the single released by Hoi Festa and not the one used in the actual show,) a party mix of the show's music produced by TAICHI MASTER, and character songs sung by Emiri Katou, Nami Miyahara and Machiko Kawana. The supplied booklet also contains pre-production artwork, including a variety of concept designs for the Powerpuff Girls Z and other series characters. *Opening Themes #"Kibōu no Kakera" (希望のカケラ "Pieces of Hope") by Nana Kitade (eps. 1-26) #"Jigu THE Appā" (ジグ THE アッパー "J''ig the Upper''") by Hoi Festa (eps. 27-52) * Ending Themes 3. "Mayonaka no Door" (真夜中のドア "Door of Midnight") by Liu Yi Fei (eps. 1-13) 4. "LOOK" by HALCALI (eps. 14-26) 5. "Tōori Ame" (通り雨 "Rainshower") by Wiz-US (eps. 27-39) 6. "Himawari" (ひまわり "Sunflower") by Hearts Grow (eps. 40-52) * Background Music 7. Intro (0:20) 8. A Day In The Lab (2:45) 9. Monster Panic X Girlz Dispatch (3:08) 10. Girlz Dispatch X Monster Threat '(5:11) 11. '''PPGZ '(0:42) 12. 'Versus '(2:52) 13. 'Mojo Jojo '(1:32) 14. 'Wafoo '(1:22) 15. 'Back in the Lab '(2:40) 16. 'Love and Peace '(4:04) ' 17. '''Juvenile Misdemeanor '(5:36) 18. The Scheme '(2:28) 19. '''Princess Fuzzy-Funk`s Rowdy Fever '(5:18) ' 20. '''The Rise of Him '(5:57) 21. Victory Lap '(1:43) 22. '''Epilogue '(1:25) * Transformation Music 11. 'Powered Buttercup '(0:34) 12. 'Rolling Bubbles '(0:33) 13. 'Hyper Blossom '(0:32) * Extra Music 26. 'Sweet Chodai '(2:03) 27. 'Flow '(3:36) 28. 'It's Mighty! '(2:09) 29. '''Touch Me! (2:26) Video Game The video game entitled "Game De Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z" for the Nintendo DS was released on June 12, 2007, by Namco. It has board-game style gameplay similar to Mario Party and features Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup competing with Mojo Jojo to get to the center of the board, competing in minigames along the way. Manga﻿ A manga adaptation, illustrated by Shiho Komiyuno, was published in Shueisha's Ribon magazine between July 2006 and June 2007. Trivia *Because the series was first announced on April 1, 2005 (just a month after the original show ended as well), many people considered it to be an April Fools' Day prank at the time. *In the second to last episode, Girlz, Beyond Time and Space! ''/ ''Only a Matter of Time, the original Powerpuff Girls make a little cameo alongside the Giant Fishballoon. *The show takes inspiration from different "sentai" and "mahou shoujo" series, Momoko's personality even being directly inspired by Usagi from Sailor Moon in how she loves sweets and is crush crazy. *As production occurred in Japan, Craig McCracken, the original creator of The Powerpuff Girls, was not involved with the project outside of one meeting with the Japanese producers before the series startedhttps://twitter.com/CrackMcCraigen/status/891760496939982848, making this the first piece of Powerpuff Girls-related media not to have him involved. The second being the Dance Pantsed special and the third being the 2016 reboot. *This series is a AU (Alternative Universe) from both the 1998 and 2016 ones. *An prototype of the show was presented at Tokyo International Anime Fair 2005. [6] [7] References #↑''Cartoon Network Philippines Site'' (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com.ph/minisite/ppgz/index.php) #↑'' Original Wikipedia Article'' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerpuff_Girls_Z) #↑'' Anime News Network'' (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5371) #↑'' IMDb'' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0989771/) #↑ CDJapan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/SVWC-7473) #↑ anidb (https://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=collection&collectionid=1087) #↑ ppgcom (http://ppgcom.gooside.com/ppgz/index2.html) #↑ ppgcom (http://ppgcom.gooside.com/ppgz/ppg2.html) See Also *''The Powerpuff Girls (original series)'' Category:TV Shows Category:Powerpuff Girls Z